Cash rich Cambridge UK life science business Abzena has invested $60 million into a new manufacturing nervecentre at its site in San Diego in the US. The move has already created 125 additional jobs.
Business Weekly recently announced that the company had received $10m growth capital from New York investment firm Biospring Partners to accelerate its worldwide expansion plans.
Babraham-based Abzena is a leading contract provider of integrated discovery, development and manufacturing services for biologics and bioconjugates. It says the new facility is designated for late phase and commercial cGMP manufacturing. cGMP refers to the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations enforced by the US FDA.
The new circa 50,000 sq ft facility houses a process development laboratory and two new cGMP manufacturing cleanrooms for 500L and 2,000L scale in Sartorius single use bioreactors.
The facility also houses a GMP warehouse and analytical development and quality control laboratories.
Matt LeClair, senior VP and site head of Abzena’s San Diego operations said: “Until now our other San Diego site has been focused primarily on development and manufacture of Phase I and II clinical trial materials.
“This expansion will allow us to provide seamless project integration for our customers as they move into Phase III and ultimately commercial manufacture.
“This investment has been driven by both existing customer requirements and by wider market demand for our services. The facility will enable the company to deliver Phase I to commercial manufacturing services for biologic projects.
“At Abzena we’re dedicated to delivering an end-to-end service offering that supports our customers from concept to clinic and beyond. This latest investment is testament to our commitment to developing our offering in line with the needs of our current customers and the rest of the market.”
To date the San Diego facility has completed hundreds of projects and has had more than 40 successful audits carried out by key customers. The new facility has also received its manufacturing licence from the California Food and Drug Branch.
• Photograph courtesy of Abzena